Packet classification extensions for Netfilter
High throughput packet classification of tunneled traffic
With the advent of virtualization and containers, datacenter traffic is becoming prominently tunneled through layer 2 and layer 3 encapsulation techniques such as VLAN, GRE, VxLAN, GRETAP and Geneve among others. Extended packet classification through advanced string-matching also allows to proactively detect malicious traffic patterns and to improve overall datacenter network security. Performance is also a paramount aspect to improve resource utilization and to allow packet classification to scale up to the increasing demands in latency and bandwidth.
Nftables is the next generation packet classification software that replaces {ip,ip6,eb,arp}tables which reuses the existing main components of the Netfilter frameworks such as Connection tracking, NAT and logging. This project aims at three goals: 1) Enhancing Nftables packet classification by extending its tunneled packet classification capabilities to allow to match on inner header, 2) add string-matching infrastructure for Nftables and 3) evaluate performance to analyze bottlenecks and deliver upstream enhancements for the Netfilter packet classification datapath.
- The project's own website: https://www.netfilter.org
Run by Netfilter Project
This project was funded through the NGI Assure Fund, a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission's Next Generation Internet programme, under the aegis of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No 957073.
